Wildlife will pass under I-4

State installing animal crossings beneath interstate's six lanes of traffic

11:50 PM,
Aug. 3, 2013

A project slated to be completed in Jan. 2015 will include about five miles of fence that will bear-proof both sides of I-4, and lead creatures to three large underpasses, as well as five smaller crossings.

Written by

Mark Harper
| The Daytona Beach News-Journal

Since workers began the $134 million widening of Interstate 4 last year, they have seen at least one bear and one coyote killed on the stretch of highway between DeLand and Daytona Beach.

Roads pose threats to animals, such as Florida black bears, which have roamed the Sunshine State's forests for centuries. More than 30 bears have been killed attempting to cross the interstate in the past two decades, so the state is constructing a series of wildlife crossings beneath the six lanes of traffic.

"Underpasses are a novel approach to correcting that," said Julie Wraithmell, director of wildlife ...